PGA CHAMPIONSHIP:IN TIMES past, you just didn't know what would happen over the West Course. Remember Andrew Oldcorn? What about Scott Drummond?
Now, though, things have changed. A lake has materialised on the eighth, a brook on the 18th, all of the greens have been rebuilt; and, hey presto, Ernie Els – the player behind the modernisation – has turned the course here at Wentworth into a formidable test befitting of the €4.5 million BMW PGA Championship, the European Tour’s so-called flagship event.
So, you’d think, the odds on a springer emerging from the pack have lengthened. Certainly, that’s how the likes of Pádraig Harrington – a player in search of a win, his drought extending back to the US PGA Championship in 2008 – and Europe’s number one, Lee Westwood, would see it. But, then, they would, wouldn’t they? Neither of them enjoyed the “old Wentworth” with its poa annua greens and whimsical fairways.
Indeed, Harrington, given his status as the European player of his generation who has delivered most on the world stage with three majors to his name, was instrumental in the course owners ploughing ahead with a near €8 million renovation.
Once that was done, the Dubliner – who hasn’t played here since 2007 – had no option other than to turn up and go in pursuit of a title which up to now has proven elusive to him.
He’s back and, impending knee operation not withstanding, in gung-ho mood ahead of the tournament viewed as just a rung below the majors on this side of the Atlantic.
“I’ve just got to be patient and let things happen . . . going into this week, I wouldn’t be buzzing with confidence but going forward for the year, I would be. I’m very happy with where my game is at and I’m looking forward to the summer,” said Harrington, adding: “I’m pushing for a win.”
Harrington is one of 11 Irish players in the field, with the obvious range of expectations that such a large contingent brings to a tournament.
Obviously, Rory McIlroy, fifth on his debut last year, and Harrington enter with the mindset it is a tournament to be won, but Graeme McDowell, currently 50th in the world rankings, also has the side issue of staying in that elite group if he is to avoid a visit to qualifying for the US Open and the British Open. The cut-off point for automatic qualification comes this weekend, after the BMW and the Byron Nelson on the US Tour.
For sure, the in-form player is Westwood, who has developed the habit of getting his game right for the big tournaments. Unfortunately for him, the West Course has been a foe rather than an ally.
Westwood has missed the cut on six of the last nine occasions he has played here; and, more than most, will hope Els’s tweaking will help change his fortunes. In the main, he likes the changes; but with reservations. “There were a couple of greens that are a bit too severe in my opinion . . . (but) overall, I’m impressed,” observed Westwood yesterday.
Westwood, a bit like Harrington, is looking for an upturn in fortunes on the Wentworth track. Why has he not performed so well in the past?
“I don’t really know. I’ve never sort of historically played too well in the first half of the year, and I just have always struggled on the greens here for some reason which is strange. I mean, you look at the (poa annua) greens on the West Coast of America where I’ve had some of my best results in the US Opens and LA Open, and I’ve played really well. I can never figure it out, but some courses just don’t fit your eye sometimes.”
Ian Poulter, who has risen to sixth in the world on the back of his WGC-Accenture Matchplay victory earlier this season, is another who has stayed away because of the state of the greens in recent years.
“They were bumpy (in the past). I get frustrated when I hit a good putt on a good line and it misses,” said Poulter, who has been receiving treatment for a strained neck.
There are five players ranked in the world’s top 10 competing here, bringing with it a ton of world ranking points. But Paul Casey, the holder, is struggling to convince himself his body is fit and well after a traumatic year with injury.
“There’s absolutely nothing as far as I know that is preventing me from hitting the golf ball,” he said, adding: “In terms of health, I’m 90 per cent.”
With an 11-strong Irish contingent – comprising McIlroy, Harrington, McDowell, Shane Lowry, Darren Clarke, Peter Lawrie, Paul McGinley, Damien McGrane, Gareth Maybin, Michael Hoey and Irish PGA Region order of merit winner David Higgins – in the field, with quality as much as quantity the guiding influence, the prospect of only a second Irish winner of this flagship event (since Harry Bradshaw in 1958) is a live one.
McIlroy has the momentum from Quail Hollow, but Harrington probably has the greater need.
PGA championship
Course: West Course, Wentworth Club, Virginia Water, Surrey.
Length: 7,261 yards. Par: 71.
Prize money: €4.5 million (€750,000 to the winner).
Layout: A fairly flat course, though the swirling wind makes it difficult.
All the greens have been remodelled since last year’s tournament.
Field: 150.
Irish in action: Graeme McDowell, Pádraig Harrington, Paul McGinley, Damien McGrane, Peter Lawrie, Rory McIlroy, Gareth Maybin, Shane Lowry, Michael Hoey, David Higgins and Darren Clarke.
On TV: Live on Sky Sports today and tomorrow (from 10am today). Live on BBC Saturday and Sunday.
Weather forecast: Warm all four days, though fog is possible today and tomorrow, as well as showers.
First Round Tee-off Times
7.00 Lara (Spa), Lockerbie, Warren
7.10 Broadhurst, Waring, Whiteford
7.20 Howell, Hedblom, Wall
7.30 McDowell, Molinari, Hansen
7.40 Quiros, Poulter, Kaymer
7.50 Els, Davies, Fisher
8.00 Molinari, Hansen, Harrington
8.10 Noh, Clarke, Manassero
8.20 Bjorn, Fraser, McGinley
8.30 Horsey, Rumford, Willett
8.45 Fisher, Gallacher, Edfors
8.55 Gonzalez, Rock, Finch
9.05 Lane, Lawrie, Fdez-Castano
9.15 O'Malley, Cevaer, Green
9.25 Drummond, McGrane, Kingston
9.35 Ramsay, Larrazabal, Lawrie
9.45 Colsaerts, Canizares, Zanotti
9.55 Lin, Bourdy, Noren
10.05 Strange, Henningsson, Khan
10.15 Dixon, Echenique, Liang
10.30 Benson, Kapur, Cheetham
10.40 Lundberg, Watson, Chowrasia
10.50 Shave, Nirat, Boyd
11.00 Lynn, Lafeber, Gill
11.10 Lee, Brier, Lima
11.20 Dredge, Erlandsson, Foster
11.30 Orr, Derksen, Little
11.40 Forsyth, Canete, Otto
11.50 Oosthuizen, Jaidee, Rose Noon Karlsson, McIlroy, Donald
12.15 Westwood, Wilson, Stenson
12.25 Schwartzel, Casey, Jimenez
12.35 Morrison, Montgomerie, Kjeldsen
12.45 Dougherty, Hed, Hanson
12.55 McGowan, Dyson, Maybin
1.05 Dodd, Wood, Aiken
1.15 Garrido, Fasth, Ferrie
1.25 Dodt, Havret, Huldahl
1.35 Jacquelin, Marksaeng, Price
1.45 Siem, Lee, Martin
2.00 Bello, Levet, Kang
2.10 Donaldson, Webster, Storm
2.20 Lucquin, Lowry, Jonzon
2.30 Goya, Drysdale, Nilsson
2.40 Hoey, Coles, Vancsik
2.50 Randhawa, Raitt, Ilonen
3.00 Brown, Higgins, Aguilar
3.10 Bland, Whiffin, Luiten
3.20 Lee, Delamontagne, McEvoy
3.30 Lupton, Butterfield, Quesne
